Hi mollysmom,
I purchased a virgin mobile mifi to take up to our cottage which didn't have Internet. I purchased the mifi at best buy, but you may find cheaper at Walmart or even amazon. Overall, the setup appeared easy, but there was a glitch in the process which forced me to call customer service. They gave me free 500 mb to be used in 30 days. We stayed up north for 5 days. Overall speed was fairly good. It runs on 3G sprint coverage, like our cell phones. It certainly not like our Home network, but it allows me to read the iPad forum, Facebook, work email etc.
The virgin mifi can hold a charge for 4 hours before having to recharge. I was pleased with its performance. It can connect 5 devices, though I was the only user. The 5 days while up, I only used 40 mb!! Hope this helped!!